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Paul Du Chaillu, who was an American traveller of French desent was the first to reveal the existence of the Punu tribe, people he referred to as the "Aponos", in 1868. Paul spent his teenage years in Gabon around Libreville where his father managed a trading post.
The Punu belong to a large bantu family, and their nickname, punyi, means both 'brave warriors' and 'highwaymen'. They have even been refered to as 'the Fang of the south' by some white colonists. They are the biggest ethnic group of Southern Gabon and occupy most of the four districts of mouila, Ndende, Moabi and Tchibanga.
The Punu group has some interesting taboo's, including the flesh of dogs, cats and snails. It is not customary for Punu woman to eat the flesh of an animal that they are familiar with such as hens, goats, civets, screech owls and foxes, or valuable animals liek roosters, drakes and sheep. They cannot eat snakes, either, because it is believed that a woman who eats the flesh of a snake could become wicked and therefore, behaving like a man, she might fail in her duty as a mother and neglect the education of her children. For more inforamtion on the Punu, click here.......
    
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